Trailer fifth wheel



y 1950 G. A. KENDALL 2,508,610

TRAILER FIFTH WHEEL Filed Oct. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

590/546 /7. Kefldaz'z E a BY K May 23, 1950 G. A. KENDALL TRAILER FIFTH WHEEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- fsvr g fl Ke/ZJQZZ BY W FTTdF/VEyS.

Filed Oct. 19, 1946 Patented May 23, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIFTH: WHEEL George A. Kendall, fieti'iilt, V Amilieation October '19, 1946, Serial1 To.. 70l,462 is Glaims. (c1. 230:123

This invention relates to:- a fifth. wheel con"- struction 'fortr'ailers, vehicles; and the like, and more particularly "to a fifth wheel for 'rotati-vely mounting a vehicle body toca. vehiclewheelesupporting frame.

It is an object of this invention to provide. a fifth wheel construction which: Willi wear" longer, operate more smoothly; and eliminate the need of constant lubrication.

It is a further obj'ect'of this invention toipro videa fifth wheel, having a sealed housing which; prevents the ingress :of dirt and other foreign m'aterial onto the operating. surface-s. thereof.

'It is a. still further objectof this-invention to provide in a fifth Wheel, including a sealed housing containing lubricant; large bearing sun. faces to distribute the load thereof so'that: the fifth wheel will wear longer.

It. is a still further object of this. invention Figure 3 is a crosssectional view on a 'la-rger scale of the construction of the fifth: Wheel of this invention taken: along the line ':'3'-- -'3 of Fig ure'2..

=Figure 4 is a; horizontal cross se'ctionalrviewv ou a smaller scale of the fif-th. wheel construction" taken along the'line'4-4zofiFigure 3'.

'Referring to the'drawings; ittwill be-.:seen:that

a vehicle body frame generallyindicated' zit-5'18.

connected to a .whe'elisupporting frame"1: through a fifth wheel generallyiindicatedatB; Theiwheel supporting frame 7 is conventionallyconnected through a suspenslonsystem: generally-indicated at H;- to the front wheels 13 6f 'thevehicle. As seen. in. Figure 2,. :the --fifth -wheel 9 is" centrally: locatedfbetween: the front wheeled- 3 'ofthe vehicle "and; located over-the-axle M therebet'vveen- The-.irontend of-the wheelzsupriorting frame :1

that frame; n second eircuiar late 2-1 isw'elded to the top' or the circular 'hlat'e 23 -at thecenteri thereof; recessed at 29 to receive a hub 31* an s welded td t circular-plate 21- ana extends dowfivv araty "through both the' 'plate na eplate -23; net 311'"is"l' e'ct issed mime centertneienf-fas- 2111733 arid-1 a circular collar 35 i'srpressfitted thereinfwith itsbottbm' edge-flush with theFbottom oftHe hub: Thezhiibf3l likewise has' an axial cipenin'gafi 'Iith'erein passirig: through itsiicenter'rthrdugh wmmmman is inserted for a use which will be:hereihafterdesbribed. A: circular-"plate wd sweldedeto the' lower surface? of the plate 25 in the" center thereof, in substantial-"vertical alignment with thercircular plated? weldedtor'the pl'ateI :2'3: Plate 43 is re; ce'ssedr in the: center thereofz-as at 44 :and a hub 45 is inserted throughthe-mecess and welded-to the plate. The hub -45 extendsthrough the reces'sinto the recess33-in the hub member 3|; :1

eollar fl is press fitted 0nrthe outside-of= the hub, 45:. 'and ispositioned: adjacent to and axially aligned with the collar'-- 35"Which -is*pressed into' th'e hubm: Thacollar 4 1 :isrcoaxial with the 601- lar 35 and 1 a slightclearance is provided between: the outer periphery of the-collar 41 arid-the; inner periphery or the" collar; -35; l'Ilhese twolcollars 35- andJ-1 vactest-weansleeves?forthehfth wheel" as will hereinaftenbetmore "fully-explained: The: hub-'45 is;.provided =with -an axiabopening "49;" which isealigned withthe openingitlvin the hub 3| anddikewisewre'ceives the -boilt:- 39; A :loeknut Si is threadedsoni thew'enduor the-bolt-=39 and? seats=againstia=washer iii-which abuts the enddf; the hub:- 45. Thusait;will:readilyibe 'seemthat the}:

bolt 39 and nut 5| rotatlvely connect the vehicle body frame 5 to the wheel supporting frame 9 so that they may be rotated relative to each other.

outwardly of the hub SI and resting upon the top of the circular plate are a plurality of circular disks 53 which act as wear plates for the fifth wheel as will be more fully explained hereinafter. These disks 53 are placed one on top of another and in the embodiment shown in the drawings five such disks are employed. The disks are recessed at their center as at 55 so that they may fit over the hub 3| and lie flat on the plate 25. Still another circular plate 51 is positioned upon the top of the uppermost wear plate disk 53 and likewise is recessed as at 59 to fit over the hub 3| and rest upon the top of these wear plates. A riser bar BI is positioned between i the circular plate 51 and the circular plate 23 and is welded to both these plates. This riser bar 5|, as can be seen in Figure 4, is formed in a generally cross-shaped manner so that the outer extremity of each of its rounded cross arms 53 comes substantially to the outer edge of the plate 51. The inner rounded edges of the cross arms 83 substantially abut the outer periphery of the hub 3|. This form of riser bar provides substantially uniform support between the two plates with a minimum of size and weight for the riser bar.

, outwardly of the riser bar is provided a sealing unit generally indicated at 65. This unit comprises a circular collar 61 welded to the underside of the plate 23 at the outer extremity thereof. The plate 25 likewise has an annular collar 69 welded to the inner surface thereof and extending upwardly therefrom. This collar 59 is positioned inwardly of the collar 61 and a dust felt or oil seal H is positioned inwardly of the collar 61 and has its lower end abutting the upper end of the collar 69. Another collar 13 is provided on the inner side of the seal H from the collar 61 and is welded to the plate 23. This collar aids in positioning and securing the oil seal in place. The housing formed by the upper and lower plates and the end walls thereof may be supplied with lubricating oil through a filler hole 12 in plate 23, which is sealed by filler plug 14. It will thus be seen that the oil seal prevents the leakage of any lubricant from within the housing of the fifth wheel and prevents the ingress of dirt into the housing.

The wear plate 53 which is lowermost and which is resting upon the plate 25 is provided with radially extending slots 15. Some of these slots extend inwardly from the outer periphery of the wear plate and some extend outwardly from the inner periphery thereof. The wear plate above the one just described is not provided with any slots, but the one thereabove is. and so on, so that the wear plates are alternately provided with slots. In this way, each wear plate will be satisfactorily lubricated,

When the fifth wheel has been completely assembled, the housing formed by the plates 23 and 25 and their respective end walls may be supplied with lubricating oil. This oil will flow to allparts of the fifth wheel such as between the annular wear rings 35 and 41 to provide lubrication therebetween when the body frame rotates relatively to the wheel supporting frame. Likewise, this lubricating oil will flow into the slots in the wear plates and lubricate each of the wear plates. As the lubricating oil is sealed in by the oil seal II, it cannot escape and should be capable of satisfactorily lubricating the entire fifth wheel during its life.

It will be noted that due to the large surface of the wear plates 53 and the fact that they may turn independently, or together, the wear will be distributed over a large surface and will add great length to the life of the fifth wheel itself. Likewise, it will readily be seen that sealing of the lubricating oil into the fifth wheel prevents the ingress of any dirt into the operating parts and eliminates the need which has heretofore been necessary of constantly lubricating and oiling the operating parts to provide for their satisfactory operation. The annular collars 35 and 41 which act as vertical wear sleeves are adapted to absorb the shock caused by the pull on the fifth wheel by the truck or tractor which draws the trailer. Also, these vertical wear sleeves aid in maintaining the vertical alignment between the upper and lower sections of the fifth wheel and provide vertical bearing surfaces when rotation between the upper and lower surfaces occurs.

While only one particular embodiment of this invention has been described, it is to be understood that it is not to be restricted thereto and that it is intended to cover all modifications thereof which will be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fifth wheel for rotatively mounting a vehicle body to a wheel supporting frame including a housing adapted to contain lubricant, said housing comprising an upper circular plate connectable to said body, a lower circular plate connectable to said wheel support ng frame, means rotatively interconnecting said plates, peripheral walls on each of said plates, sealing means positioned between said walls for sealing said housing, horizontal wear plates supported on said lower plate, an integral tubular spacer member having portions projecting radially outwardly with respect to a central opening therein connected to the underside of said upper plate, a circular plate connected to the underside of said spacer and engaging said wear plates for rotation thereon, a vertical wear sleeve connected to. said upper plate and a vertical wear sleeve connected to said lower plate coaxial with and ad- Jacent to said first named wear sleeve.

2. A fifth wheel for rotatively mounting a vehicle body to a wheel supporting frame including a housing adapted to contain lubricant, said housing comprising an upper wall connected to said body, a lower wall connected to said wheel supporting frame, means rotatively interconnecting said walls, end walls connected to each of said first named walls, sealing means positioned between said end walls for sealing said housing, a plurality of horizontal wear plates mounted on said lower wall and placed one on top of another, means connected to said upper wall engaging said wear plates for rotation thereon, a vertical wear sleeve detachably connected to said upper wall and a vertical wear sleeve detachably connected to said lower wall coaxial with and adjacent to said first named wear sleeve.

3. A fifth wheel for rotatively mounting a vehicle body to a wheel supporting frame including an upper circular plate connected to said body, a lower circular plate connected to said Wheel supporting frame, a hub member extending vertically through the center of said upper plate and rigidly connected thereto, a second hub member connected to and extending vertically through said lower plate into spaced relation with said first hub member, an annular collar connected to each of said hub members with the outer periphery of one collar adjacent the inner periphery of the other collar, connecting means passing through said plates and hubs for rotatively connecting said upper and lower plates, a plurality of circular disks resting upon said lower plate, a circular plate resting upon the uppermost circular disk, a spacer member rigidly secured to said upper plate and said last named circular plate, end walls connected to said upper and lower plates outwardly of said circular disk, 15 2,154,799

and sealing means positioned between said end walls for sealing the same.

GEORGE A. KENDALL.

REFERENCES CFTEB The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,094,185 Adams Apr. 21, 1914 1,485,799 Miner Mar. 4, 1924 1,486,143 Hovey Mar. 11, 1924 Young Apr. 18, 1939 

